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Past conferences

 

9th International SICAMM Conference

with BIBBA and SBA

“THE DARK BEE, OUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE”

Aviemore, Scotland

6th-11th September, 2009

 

 

MONDAY

 

10.00 – 12.50 Biology and Conservation  of Apis mellifera mellifera

10.00              History and characteristics of the British Dark Bee, Apis mellifera mellifera.

Philip Denwood

British BKA and BIBBA

 

10.35              A simple approach to bee improvement.                                         

Roger Patterson

British BKA and BIBBA

 

11.40              A short history of Highland beekeeping.

Dr John Durkacz

Scottish BA

12.15              Difficulties experienced in trying to establish a reserve for Apis mellifera mellifera in Scotland.

Andrew Abrahams

Scottish BA and BIBBA

 

2.00 – 5.15              Ecological Considerations for the Dark Bee

 

2.00              Climate change: Nature’s strategy to survive.

Nils Drivdal

Norwegian BKA

 

2.35              The productivity of the Dark Bee, Apis mellifera mellifera, under Irish climatic conditions.

Dr Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda

Galtee Bee Breeding Group, Ireland

 

3.40              Genetic variability and introgression in dark honey bees from Poland.

Andrzej Oleksa, Igor Chybicki, Artur Dzialuk, Katarzyna Kowalska, Eva Sztupecka and Jaroslaw Burczyk

Department of Genetics, Institute of Experimental Biology, Kazimierz Wielki University of Bydgoszcz, Poland

 

8.00           PRESENTATION OF THE JOSEF STARK AWARD

 

8.15           SPECIAL LECTURE BY THE AWARD RECIPIENTS

Lactic acid bacteria - the unrecognised king of the bee colony

Dr Alejandra Vásquez and Dr Tobias Olofsson

University of Lund

 

TUESDAY

 

9.30 – 2.40           Honeybee Conservation Initiatives across Europe

9.30               “L’Arbre aux Abeilles”, French film with English subtitles about traditional beekeeping in the Cevennes Hills of southern France.

Film by Yves Elie

10.00              Scottish Bee Survey: a review of John and Morna Stoakley’s work.             

Dr John Durkacz

Scottish BA

10.20              The Dark Bee in Wales.                                                       

Dinah Sweet

Welsh BKA

10.40              The Manx Black Bee.

Harry Owens

Isle of Man Beekeepers’ Federation

 

11.00              The status of the Irish Black Bee.

Dr Eoghan Mac Giolla Coda

Galtee Bee Breeding Group, Ireland

 

11.40              The situation of the Dark Bee in Norway.                                                       

Nils Drivdal / other

Norwegian BKA

 

12.00              The Dark Bee in Sweden.                                                         

Ingvar Arvidsson

Nordbi, Sweden

 

12.20              Dark Bees in Finland.

Aimo Nurminen

Finnish Beekeepers’ Association

 

12.40              Investigation of the Dark Bee stock in Austria.

(Review of the results of Martina Siller’s Masters Thesis, University of Vienna).             

Balser Fried

Friends of the Swiss Mellifera Bee

 

2.00                The situation of the Dark Bee in Germany.

Michael Meinl

GEDB

 

2.20                Bright Future for the Dark Bee in Switzerland.

Hans-Ulrich Thomas

Mellifera.ch

 

2.45 – 4.0      Group Discussion:  Priorities for Conservation of the Native Dark Bee

 

4.30 – 5.30    General Meeting of SICAMM

 

5.30 – 6.0       SCOTTISH HONEY TASTING SESSION

Morna Stoakley

Scottish Beekeepers’ Association

 

WEDNESDAY

9.30 – 12.30                      Breeding for Disease Resistance

9.30                 Hygienic behaviour and resistance to Varroa. 

Observations of Ron Hoskins; presented by Dr.Dorian Pritchard

Swindon Honeybee Conservation Group

10.05              Using drone layers for breeding Varroa-resistant honeybees.    

Prof. Kaspar Bienefeld,

German National Institute for Bee Research and Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

11.10              Control of Varroa by grooming among dark bees in Cornwall.

Rodger Dewhurst

British BKA and BIBBA

 

11.45 – 12.15  The great survivor: Apis mellifera mellifera in Scotland in the age of Varroa destructor.

Dr Gavin Ramsay, John McLean and Magnus Peterson

Scottish BA

12.30                                       CLOSE OF CONFERENCE

 

 

2.00 – 5.30               VISIT TO HIGHLAND FOLK MUSEUM AND HIGHLAND WILDLIFE PARK

 

7.00 – ~11.30          HIGHLAND BANQUET AND CEILIDH

 

THURSDAY

21.30              Discussions with Orkney beekeepers

Stromness Hotel, Stromness, Orkney

 

Posters on display throughout the Conference

Queen related problems – how they affect the bee breeder.                           

Roger Patterson

British BKA and BIBBA

 

Online data processing and genetic evaluation for Apis mellifera mellifera.

Klaus Ehrhardt and Kaspar Bienefeld

Institute for Bee Research Hohen Neuendorf and Humboldt University Berlin, Germany

 

The effect of apiary location on cubital index and discoidal shift values in the black bee Apis mellifera mellifera L.

Dr Bożena Chuda-Mickiewicz

University of Szcecin, Poland

-------00-------

 

 

Papers submitted, but withdrawn as presenters were unable to attend

 

“Climate change and reproduction of the Central Russian race of Apis mellifera mellifera, the Dark Forest Bee.”

Prof. N.N.Grankin and Vereschchaka, O.A.

Orlovsky State University, Central Russia

 

The Black Bee Forest Beekeeping Project on the Island of Bornholm.

Ole Hertz

SICAMM representative in Denmark

 

Implications of deforestation on common African bees in Nigeria.

Badejo, S.O.O., Ekpo, E.N. and Oyelowo, O.J. 

Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Nigeria

 

 

Nils Drivdal (right) receiving a card from Dorian Pritchard on his retirement as Secretary of SICAMM

 

John Durkacz (Scotland)

 

Roger Patterson (England)

Hans-Ulrich Thomas and Balser Fried (Switzerland)

 

Tasting Scottish honeys

 

Uncapping machine at Struan Apiaries, Conon Bridge

 

Aboard the MV Hamnavoe en route for Orkney

 

Stromness Hotel, Stromness, Orkney

Orkney beekeeper Torquil Clyde addressing SICAMM delegates, Stromness Hotel, Stromness, Orkney

 

Left to right: Michael Meinl (Germany), Dorian Pritchard (England), Christian Seyffurth (Germany), Nils Drivdal (Norway), Tom Robinson (England), Philip Denwood (England), at the Standing Stones of Stenness, Orkney.